Used phones with TikTok installed devices are listed on eBay for thousands of dollars. And it seems some people are actually buying them.
Although US President Donald Trump signed one Executive Order on Monday TikTok is postponing a possible ban on the social media app by 75 days and is still not present in all US app stores. Apple and Google are giving no indication as to whether the app will return. This means that if you are in America and delete the app or lose your phone, you are currently banned and have no option to download the app again. This could spell disaster for content creators, brand marketers, and social media managers. And an expensive one at that.
Opportunistic eBayers have seized the opportunity to profit from this misfortune. A quick search for “TikTok phone” brings up more than 9,000 used ads Smartphones from Apple and Samsung, all with the TikTok app already installed.
This is possible by the seller simply logging out of the iCloud or Google account associated with the device instead of resetting the phone to factory settings. Each buyer must then be careful not to sync with an existing cloud backup to avoid losing the app they paid so much for and to ensure the seller removes all security measures.
It goes without saying that anyone considering this route should purchase with extreme caution, especially given the price charged by many sellers.
You can find phones that have TikTok listed for up to $50,000 available in the eBay Buy It Now sale format, but it’s hard to believe that anyone could actually believe their phone would sell for it – and there’s no sign that this is the case.
There are many more listed in the $2,000 to $5,000 range, but whether anyone will actually buy them at that price still seems unlikely.
What can be said is that it is there despite the inflated prices Is Interest. These phones Are for sale, but exactly how much for is more difficult to determine. Select the “Sold” filter in eBay search and there are many sales that appear to have closed, but almost all of them have an undisclosed “Best Offer Accepted” notation attached to them.
All of the completed auctions with incredibly inflated prices appear to have had their devices relisted shortly afterwards, indicating an unsuccessful sale, with only those close to the used phone market value appearing to have actually been sold.
A quick look at the current auctions also shows that these phones are fetching much cheaper prices than an initial search would suggest.
It’s a little unclear whether the TikTok reward is real, but that’s not stopping people from trying it. Results for the search term “TikTok Phone” increased by over 2,000 entries during the time of writing – a sense of urgency no doubt heightened by the fact that the app could return to US app stores at any time.
Currently, a TikTok search in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store comes up with statements citing legal requirements as the reason for the app’s unavailability. This is despite Trump’s order clearly directing the Justice Department “not to take any action to enforce the law or impose penalties on any company for failure to comply with the law.”
It remains to be seen whether concerns will subside and TikTok will resurface before the 75 days are up – as with any deal Trump cuts in the meantime – but those banned from their favorite video-sharing app are not completely without options. This week, Thousands of users have flocked to another Chinese social media platform, RedNote, and left the app Hire English moderatorswhile I try too benefit about his new success.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has also done its part to take lost TikTokers under its wing by launching a Flood of new featuresand even offers major influencers $5,000 to join its platforms.
